How did THIS happen on my computer?

I sent an e-mail to my sister with some pictures of a vehicle for sale that another man had sent me. I saw the pics myself, they were all of cars. But when I forwarded the email to my sister she calls and tells me the pics she opened were of pornography! Ack! I'm not sure how that could happen. I have spyware and virus protection through AVG. What could have caused this? And any ideas how I could fix it? (it's a new email account, by the way, my old one had never done this)

Check out this article it may contain information to assist you but I'm at work. I'd rather keep my job after this break... granted no one can see because I don't go through the company proxy. I still rather keep my tracks clean and there's always the CYA method. =) But it sounds like the right deal for you... I would recommend using a couple Low-Profile anti-virus scanners. Sometimes 1 takes longer to update then the other. When you find a virus and virus scanner doesn't find it.. It's always best to send the information to that virus scan provider so that they can update their dictionaries.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn39...

The pictures in your email where just links.

So what happened is that whoever was hosting the links changed them to pornography.

Next time when you send pictures either send them as attachments or only link to a reputable source e.g. flickr.com

I agree in part with the others, never send a link to anyone until you have checked it yourself to see what it contains. If it is a link then the owner of the site can update the site and put anything they want on it.

Secondly I would do the following before sending pictures or files through the internet.
1. Click on the image or file and download it to your hard drive to a location you can access easily.
2. Check the image or file for virus before you open the program by left clicking on it and click virus scan.
3. View the image or file prior to sending it via internet, that way you know the image or file is clean and not changed from what you have viewed when you downloaded it.

If you will follow these steps you can assure that the image or file you email to others is the image or file that you viewed and wished for them to see. It is better to be save than sorry later.